So what would be the plus/minus on this?: After departing at noon on Friday for what was supposed to be a six hour ride to Spokane, the Winterhawks ran into weather that required chains, blown tires, being stranded while they waited for a new bus and Spokane's bus flying by them in the wee hours. All of which added up to a 14-hour trip, in which they arrived at 2 am. It's a good thing they are young, strong teenagers and young men who played the hand they were dealt by having a snowball fight. But not so good was that waiting at the other end were the victory and revenge-hungry Spokane Chiefs, who presumably were nestled in their warm beds while the Hawks were pelting each other with snowballs. The Booster Club ran into a few snafus of our own, but thanks to our trusty driver Terry and Stuart's quick thinking and planning, we made it to the game safely and on time.

If a fan chirps at the visiting team and no one is listening, does he make a sound?: The Booster Club had the privilege of sitting behind a gaggle of choice, grade A, fans who were obviously already inebriated by the opening face off and were therefore laying down some choice, grade A, zero-IQ chirps on the Hawks. Among the prize winners:

"Great coaching" - Because as we all know, Mike Johnston and his staff -- who have all played or worked at the NHL level -- are going to stop what they are doing, turn around, pay attention to this dude and change their game plan accordingly.

"Sit down Wotherspoon." - I've made a note to self to check with him tomorrow, but I'm pretty sure he was just a tad busy with watching the puck and defending the blueline and what not.

SOOOOOOOO not cool dudes: Mac went down hard in Saturday's game and looked to have gotten his bell rung, and chirpy dude started in on him with a few unprintable comments about being a cry baby and a pussy, get up, blah, blah, blah. And the hits kept coming on Sunday, when a kid (going by the fine example of responsible adults around him) brought a sign that I couldn't quite see, but it had Carruth and cry baby on it. First, I've only had the privilege of meeting Mac a handful of times, but there's one thing unmistakable about him when you meet him, which I'm sure you've seen in his style of play. He's stone-cold confident and he is very much like the wall that he is in net. If anything, he's a player that I'm pretty sure would rather play through injury and pain than sit it out. Two and more importantly, you don't kick a man when he's down and possibly hurt. Period. No exceptions. So, to refresh, if a player on the opposing team goes down at a home game for something other than an obvious dive: Portland, let's stay classy and keep quiet and hope they are ok.

Don't get mad, laugh your butt off: I was flipping through the Spokane Chiefs' game program this morning, which includes a short Q&A with Czech sensation Dominik Uher. Among the questions is whether he owns slippers. Yes, he does. And the color? Pink. Read on for how this might come in handy later. Like, say, Friday night at Spokane Arena.

Happy birthday to us: Tuesday is Taylor Peters' 20th birthday. Two days later, I will be 44. In honor of this quasi-momentous occasion, I have decided to purge the Spokane demons and offer our young players some tips for better living from the other side of 40. So boys, this one's for you:

1) 44 is not the new 24. Whoever made up that expression "40 is the new 20" is an idiot. Most likely, it's someone who was 20 at the time, who made it up to convince themselves that it wasn't really that bad and their body would still look and function like it did when they were 20. And I'm here to tell you it doesn't: everything still functions, but let's put it this way: it takes a lot longer to warm up the engine in the morning before you can drive the car. On the bright side, there is one huge advantage to hitting the 40 mark. Mentally, you just go "ok, I made it this far, bring it. What else you got for me? Bring it on." Also, in the stretch between 35 and 45, you're old enough to know better and young enough to do it anyway. In short, I still party down. It just requires a game day nap, vitamins and a large latte before doing so. Learn this now, it will save your life later.

2) The ugliness of those fans in Spokane --- and the security guy who sat idly by while a fan banged the glass on the Winterhawks' bench and all but crawled over it as they were trying to leave the game -- comes from a sad, lonely, and empty place I hope you never go in life. Ever. Which brings me to this:

3) The cool thing about hockey is that even in the midst of everything that makes the sport ugly, there is beauty. Like this:

-- Ty Rattie continuing to rack 'em up with both Hawks goals on Saturday. He had a few good chances at yet another hat trick, but two is still better than none, especially on a losing night. Honorable mention to Derrick Pouliot, who assisted on both goals.

-- Sven Bartschi spoiling the Chiefs' shut out (with a little help from Ty) on Sunday by scoring the Hawks only goal. This after going down hard on a 2-on-1 and having to head directly to the locker room. It may not have been enough to turn the game around, but it showed character, fortitude and a never give up attitude that are why the Bartschi-Rattie-whoever line is so totally deadly.

-- Brendan Burke stepping in for Mac on Sunday and holding the line as well and for as long as he could, to the bitter end. I profiled him for this month's Booster Club Newsletter Rookie Profile, and among his goals for this season are to prove that he can be a starter in this league. You just did. Nicely done.

-- William Wrenn squirting said fan/wingnut with a water bottle and letting him know they weren't taking any of his crap. It's the new Winterhawks signature move. For those just tuning in to the Winterhawks' frequency, a few seasons back, forward Tayler Jordan squirted a ref who wasn't listening to him with a water bottle. When I talked to William at the start of the season about wearing the C, he told me that "everyone is a leader in their own way." Some lead by making big pre-game speeches, others just lead with actions and few words. And some lead with a water bottle. Whatever works, really.

Parting shots: The boys must return to the snakepit this Friday to play the Chiefs for the last time in the regular season. This is where I could pontificate and make predictions and crunch numbers and what not, but we all know that's not my thing. Instead I have come up with a few handy tips and pre-game thoughts of the day to send the boys into the coming week:

1) If the battle goes ill again on Friday and all else fails, repeat the following to yourselves several times: Dominik Uher. Pink slippers.

2) Beauty (and victory) can be found in the middle of ugliness. You just have to choose to see it.

3) I want to see two things in my Twitter feeds this weekend: Happy birthday and #happybus. Go forth and conquer. We'll wait here.